A Democrat running for Illinois governor in 2018 is calling for the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

J.B. Pritzker said in a statement Wednesday the House of Representatives should begin impeachment proceedings. He says there are “credible reports” that Trump “obstructed justice in the investigation of the Russian hacking of our democracy.”

Pritzker was a top supporter of Hillary Clinton, helping raise millions for her unsuccessful campaign against Trump. The Chicago billionaire says calling for impeachment is “not something done lightly” but that it’s necessary.

Trying to shift away from days of criticism over the property-tax issue, Pritzker on Tuesday turned to Washington with a call for the U.S. House “to begin the impeachment process based on credible reports that President Donald Trump has obstructed justice in the investigation of the Russian hacking of our democracy.”

Whatever works, I suppose.

* Pritzker issued yet another press release today…

“Yesterday, I called on Congress to begin impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump,” said JB Pritzker. “With credible reports that President Donald Trump obstructed justice in the investigation of the Russian hacking of our democracy, I knew it was time to act. But Bruce Rauner remains silent. Rauner continues to fail this state and his refusal to speak out as Donald Trump decimates our democracy is unacceptable. The President is putting our national security at risk and undermining our rule of law. It is time for Governor Rauner to put partisanship aside and stand with Illinois families instead of Donald Trump and his hurtful agenda.”

I asked the Rauner folks and the ILGOP for a response a few hours ago and haven’t yet heard back.

* Meanwhile…

Like I said months ago, a Trump & a Russian 2016 election connection would be treason & you should go to jail for treason. CGK #Comey#FBI

State Sen. Daniel Biss is already putting money behind digital ads calling for Trump’s impeachment: “Trump’s shameless abuse of power puts the safety and security of all Illinoisans in jeopardy. It’s time for Congress to hold him accountable and begin drafting articles of impeachment.”

…Adding… Press release…

Ameya Pawar, 47th Ward alderman and Democratic candidate for Illinois governor today announced he is introducing a resolution to the Chicago City Council urging the United States House of Representatives to initiate an investigation to determine if there is sufficient grounds for the impeachment of President Donald J. Trump. Ald. Pawar will file the resolution to be considered by the City Council at the next scheduled meeting on May 24.

“I’m introducing a resolution at City Council next week calling for the Illinois Congressional Delegation and Congress to start the impeachment proceedings,” Pawar said. “I believe it is now time for Congress to start taking up impeachment proceedings and move on that quickly.”

“Trump has failed to divest himself from his business interests and it certainly appears he has obstructed justice by firing the FBI director. If he hasn’t already broken the law, he is dangerously close. And I think it’s time to get to the bottom of this so we can begin to take the next steps as a country.”

“Our country is in a really bad place right now. The billionaire class is eroding people’s trust in public institutions. The one thing that keeps me grounded and positive out of all this is that our institutions are fighting back and information is getting out. We need to take action, to determine once and for all if he is unfit to serve as our Commander and Chief.”

If the resolutions passes, the City of Chicago would be the largest city in the country to call upon Congress to begin impeachment proceedings. As the third largest city in the nation, 2.7 million Chicago residents are directly impacted by President Trump’s executive orders targeting people based on race, color, ethnicity, religion, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, immigration status, and disability status. The President’s agenda threatens people’s quality of life and, in many cases, directly violates the United States Constitution and erodes the spirit of our democracy.

Good primary politics. With his money and union support, if Pritzker just co-opts some of the Resistance, he’s on a glide path through the primary. It’ll probably take a few more moves than this, but it’s the right idea for that purpose.

As I read a columnist this a.m. and agre, Trump will resign and claim victory. Hopefully that will be soon, but I believe he’ll quit before impeachment. He’ll say it’s for the good of the country, but as always, it’s for The Donald. Jared and Ivanka, get ready to have that talk with Dad before your brand is in the crapper as well.

About time they diverted attention away from the property tax story. And it only took a week to do it.

People who think the property tax hit is the best the GOP has on JB are delirious. That’s just the tip for a multi Billionaire. There will be a flood in the coming weeks about this property and others owned by JB

I’m no Trump fan, but I think Robert Mueller should get a chance to see if there is a firm case or not first.

And treason is narrowly defined and rarely employed. Most likely would require us to be at war with an enemy power and providing aid to that enemy. Russia is certainly an adversary, but not strictly speaking an enemy.

“Pretty funny, given there is zero evidence trump has done anything illegal. Just more trump derangement syndrome”

The only derangement is from people like you Colby. Do you really think a Republican controlled legislature would appoint a independent consule to investigate a Republican president if there was nothing? Trumps campaign manager and National Security Adviser both resigned because they were not honest about there relationship with the Russians. Russian hackers and Wikileaks’s hacked and released documents that only hurt his opponent Hillary Clinton. Trump fires Comey while he is investigating Russia. Do I really need to go through all this suspicious stuff he’s done?

I honestly don’t know how Trump inspires such loyalty, because he has none for anyone besides himself. The guy is the Cersei Lannister of US politics

Senator Durbin on WGN radio this morning said Democratics need to take a deep breath and let the constitution and rule of law prevail. We need to give Robert Mueller time to conduct his investigation. Senator Durbin also said he has confidence in Mueller and will accept his findings.
I agree there needs to be a though investigation and let the chips fall where they may.

This is really frustrating as it was clearly a thinly-veiled attempt to distract people from the prop. tax thing.

With that being said, it’ll probably work. So many voters won’t really care in March of next year whether or not he let his 2nd mansion go into disrepair, but they will remember he was the first to call for Trump to go.

As a political push in a D primary, it’s not a bad line of attack, and pushing Rauner to go on the record vis a vis Trump is a worthwhile endeavor, but either way, the general election is going to be about the Rauner-Trump agenda, as it should be.

As an actual policy position, if you’re a D then you might want to hit the pause button on rhetoric like this. If the over-ripened, fermenting cantaloupe gets impeached before January 2019, then Dems are faced with President Pence and a Republican Congress, and you can bet your house they will try to get through every odious Republican legislative initiative they can because they know they will lose the House in ‘18

Slippery slope if we start calling for impeachment just because you detest someone and don’t have actual evidence of serious crimes in hand with named, credible sources. Welcome to the 2nd world. At least Pelosi and Durbin have both recognized this, but the rest of the yammering fools…

I’m a supporter of Trump and I see the double standard being applied to him. I’d bet the rest of his supporters to do. The Democrats have cried wolf on this situation for months and the reality is there’s no evidence of wrongdoing. It’s another example of winning the battle but losing the war.

Anonin, the press has been relentless in trying to pin something on trump, but have found nothing. Suspicious does not equal guilty, even the suspicion is questionable given how rabid the media has become.

So is it my imagination or are there a lot of new GOP commenters on the blog? I noticed them weighing in for Rauner and now they’re all these Trumpsters. Hmmm…methinks someone who just got $20 million has staffed up on social media, focusing right here.

Illinois Democrats are foolish to call for Trump’s removal. They should hope that President Trump takes the entire Republican party down with him, including Rauner, in the 2018 midterms.

We need to slow down and give President Trump more time to ruin his enablers in Congress. With each passing day, the news gets worse and the damage spreads. Trump is Bruce Rauner’s worst nightmare. Pritzker, Kennedy and Pawar should follow Durbin’s lead on this.

JB has “credible” evidence. Wow. Turn it over. Maybe we can force him to live in the mansion without toilets, where JB can keep an even closer eye on him.

JB, everything you say out loud in the press or in any press release communications, should be about winning the Democratic nomination for Governor of Illinois. That goes for the rest of them too. Biss is a gazillion bucks behind, and he’s spending money on this? OY.

Whoever wins is going to need plenty of those Downstate and exurban Dems who like Trump. Why give them any reason not to like you.

I have to agree with the Trib’s take, I don’t think this Pritzker move is out of desperation, but it’s a pretty convenient opportunity to distract from the property tax appeals. I doubt the House started sharpening their pencils to draft the impeachment resolution based on Pritzker’s call for it, but he should be careful for what he wishes for, Trump in the White House may be a good thing for a opposition party candidate to run against.

If Rauner criticizes Trump, what does he lose if he keeps his criticism in line with what other party leaders have said? Not much in my opinion. Rauner isn’t likely to get the Trump and “only Trump” vote anyway. He’ll get the Republican vote because he’s the Republican candidate, but the “extras” that turned out in 2016 for Trump won’t be turning up in 2018 for Rauner regardless of what he says. Plus, the Trump voters aren’t going to switch their vote to a Clinton supporter or a Kennedy. I say go for it Governor, call out Trump, and maybe find way to sneak in Illinois’ experience with Blago in your comments to remind your base of who you are.

I understand his point, but not the best time to bring it up. It took Republicans over a year and a half before they woke up to Watergate and Richard Nixon.

If your a Republican, and you wrap yourself up in baseball…hot dogs…apple pie…and religious freedom, you should be concerned about a President who is likely in cahoots with Russia AND any attack on our election.

Or your a hypocrite. Because you know damn well that if Hilary had changed the toilet paper in the White House to *under* from *over* you would be screaming for her impeachment.

===
–Whoever wins is going to need plenty of those Downstate and exurban Dems who like Trump.–

Where were they last November?

Clinton: 3.1M, 56%
Trump: 2.1M, 39%

Trump got clobbered in the suburbs, for crying out loud.===

Really dude, you’re not even trying. I deliberately left the ’suburbs’ out of my comment. Far out suburbs and downstate are more supportive of Donald Trump. Assuming he can get through a primary, a big assumption still, do you not think that those Dem Trump supporters will matter? Even in a crowded primary they’ll have a say.

===…far out suburbs and downstate are more supportive of Donald Trump. Assuming he can get through a primary, a big assumption still, do you not think that those Dem Trump supporters will matter? Even in a crowded primary they’ll have a say.===

Counties don’t vote, areas don’t vote, regions don’t vote.

Voters vote. A 900,000+ vote spread between Clinton and Trump and going after, as hard as Rauner did with Mendoza and Mendoza winning the statewide proxy war by 4 points…

… the ball game IS getting solidly behind whomever the Dems have to defeat the “failed governor” Rauner, and gin up significant and substantial efforts for a large turnout in Democratic strongholds to have THE single goal, the only goal, to defeat Bruce Rauner.

In a lower turnout election in 2018, Rauner is going to need the Trump voters to show up. At some point he’s going to have to say something about him. Of course, this is assuming that Trump is still in office in November 2018.

Quite honestly I don’t get this particular tactic at this point in the campaign.

First, so much can happen nationally before April 2018.

Second, obviously every Illinois Dem primary gubernatorial candidate will put himself on the same hate Trump bandwagon. So how did this help JB stand out from the crowd?

Yes, this is a pure and simple diversionary movement to shift eyes from JB’s immediate property tax PR problems– and it won’t work because none of his opponents are going to let it go. It’s way too juicy. This has not been a good week for JB.

SO, the Dems are foaming at the mouth and the R’s are cowering in the shadows, both locally and nationally. My, how the tables have turned. Only difference now is that the Dems appear to be coursed for validation.

All I see is the two major Parties playing a game of one upmanship on gotcha politics and not doing anything to come up with solutions to the many things that need addressed. How about a budget that addresses the specific needs of our State? That would be a start. Our State politicians need to stop worrying about Federal side and work on OUR problems. We have elected Senators and Representatives to worry about the national level, let them do that portion and our State Politicians from the Governor on down need to worry about the State.

For you, Amalia @ 3:02 pm:: JB does look to be a little out front of his headlights.

NYT Headline: Democratic Leaders Try to Slow Calls to Impeach Trump

WASHINGTON — When House Democratic leaders hastily called a news conference Wednesday to demonstrate their outrage at President Trump’s latest dramatics, they took great pains to show they were not seeking to railroad him out of the White House.

“No one ought to, in my view, rush to embrace the most extraordinary remedy that involves the removal of the president from office,” said Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the sober-minded senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. He warned that Democrats should not let their actions “be perceived as an effort to nullify the election by other means.”